86 NARRATIVE OF 1853. 
fort is probably 250 feet square. The main buildings, comprising the residence of the super- 
intendent and the store, are on the front or eastern side. They are two stories high, and built 
of wood. The shops and dwellings of the blacksmith, the gunsmith, the carpenter, the shoe- 
maker, the tailor, and others, are of adobe or of wood, and occupy the other sides. These 
mechanics are mostly French half-breeds, and have half-breed or Indian wives, and many 
children. There is a grassy plain around and near the fort, extending to the base of the rising 
ground, which is a full mile distant on the eastern side. The Assiniboines, the Gros Ventres, 
the Crows, and other migratory bands of Indians, trade at this fort, exchanging the skins of the 
buffalo, deer, and other animals, for such commodities as they require. Mr. Culberston, who 
has occupied the position of chief agent of the company during the past twenty years, has 
under his supervision not only Fort Union, but Forts Pierre and Benton also. He is a man of 
great energy, intelligence, and fidelity, and possesses the entire confidence of the Indians. His 
wife, a full-blood Indian of the Blood band of the Blackfoot tribe, is also deservedly held in high 
estimation. Though she appears to have made little or no progress in our language, she has 
acquired the manners and adapted herself to the usages of the white race with singular facility. 
Their children have been sent to the States to be educated in our best schools. 
From the second to the ninth day of Angust we were closely occupied in preparing for the 
continuation of the survey westward of the mountains. The men were occupied in making 
Pembina carts, and additional transportation was purchased of the Fur Companies. Our expe- 
rience thus far had shown how well adapted ox-trains were to transportation, and accordingly 
two additional teams were added at Fort Union. In all these arrangements both the Fur 
Companies zealously co-operated, placing at my disposal not only all the animals they could 
spare, but guides, hunters, and their information in regard to the country. We were much 
pleased and much benefited by the good offices of the Indian women at the two posts, the 
wives of the factors and officers of the companies, who fitted us out with a good assortment 
of moccasins, gloves, and other guards against the severity of the weather in the fall and 
winter. On the 5th of August Mr. Lander reached Fort Union, from his reconnoissance of 
the River of the Lakes, Céteau du Missouri, and the upper waters of Mouse river. This recon- 
noissance was a very extended one, and enabled me to report as to the source of the River of 
the Lakes, the character of the cóteau in the vicinity of the 49th parallel, and the most 
favorable lines for crossing it and descending to the valley of the Missouri. He found lignite 
on the River of the Lakes, and in his trip was brought in contact with several bands of Indians, 
who, although somewhat uncertain and even hostile at first, became entirely satisfied with the 
operations of his party, and offered no obstruction to his progress. 
I have referred to the fact that on my arrival at Fort Union not a man desired his discharge, 
although every man was offered an honorable discharge who desired to be relieved from duty 
at that point. The men, however, became іп a few days exceedingly alarmed as to the diffi- 
culties to be expected from snow in the westward journey. The voyageurs belonging to the Fur 
Companies’ posts thought it a good practical joke to spread bugbear stories about the immense 
snows to be expected early in the season, and many of the men got to believe that they would 
find snow knee-deep before they reached Fort Benton, and that it would be twenty feet deep 
in the passes of the Rocky mountains in October. Fortunately I had with me some books of 
travel in that country, particularly De Smet’s Oregon Missions, and had carefully, to the best 
of my ability, investigated the climates of the country west of the Rocky mountains. Mr. 
Culbertson and the officers of the companies also gave me reliable information in reference to 
